Synopsis
Avery was badly bullied all through high school. It left him feeling broken and full of self-doubt.
Years later, he’s slowly putting his life back together. But just as things start to get better, his father becomes seriously ill and needs a life-saving surgery.
Avery’s stepmother says there’s only one way to pay for it: an arranged marriage. At first, she planned to marry off her own daughter to a rich man from a powerful family. But when they find out the man is in a coma after a car accident, she changes her mind. She refuses to let her daughter marry someone who may never wake up. Instead, she forces Avery into it—tricking him, threatening him, and reminding him that this is the only way to save his father’s life.
Avery agrees, even though it breaks his heart. He goes through with the wedding without even seeing the groom’s face.
On the night of the wedding, in his new home, Avery notices something strange. The man lying unconscious looks oddly familiar. He finds some old photos in the house….
The man he just married is Lucien—his high school bully. The same person who made him feel worthless for years.
Old memories flood back, and Avery wants nothing more than to walk away. He calls his stepmother, ready to leave. But she gives him an awful choice: either divorce Lucien and let his father die, or stay married, save his father’s life, and gain wealth and power.
With no way out, Avery stays.
As time goes on, he watches Lucien’s quiet, sleeping face. And something feels off. The Lucien lying there doesn’t look like the cruel person Avery remembers. He wonders—was there more to Lucien than he ever knew?
He tells himself it doesn’t matter. Lucien got what he deserved. But one night, Avery trips and falls on top of him… and at that exact moment, Lucien wakes up.
After two years in a coma, Lucien opens his eyes—and finds out he’s married. To the same boy he used to bully.
Now Avery doesn’t know what to feel. The past still hurts, but he starts to see a different side of Lucien.
They were enemies. Strangers thrown together by fate.
But maybe… just maybe, they’re meant to be something more.

I was still fuming on the couch in the sitting room, arms crossed tight like they could hold in the mix of hurt and annoyance bubbling inside me.


Who snaps at someone just for offering a hand?


I mean, come on—Lucien looked like he'd been attacked by a flock of angry seagulls in there, all red and flailing on the floor.


And I was the bad guy for checking on him?


Fine, let Mr. Independent handle his epic fail solo.


I stared at the wall, replaying the snap in my head:


Yeah, sure you are, buddy. Totally fine, sprawled naked and groaning like a defeated wrestler.


The pity I'd felt earlier was fading fast, replaced by this petty satisfaction that his day was tanking harder than mine.


But then, from behind the door, I heard muttering—low at first, like he was talking to himself.


I leaned closer, ear pressed to the wood, curiosity winning over my sulk.


Chapter 174 - The Rant and the Rip